[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 196 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4094. Mr. CORNYN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 90, to survey the gradient boundary along the Red
River in the States of Oklahoma and Texas, and for other purposes;
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Red River Gradient Boundary
Survey Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Affected area.--
(A) In general.--The term ``affected area'' means land
along the approximately 116-mile stretch of the Red River,
from its confluence with the north fork of the Red River on
the West to the 98th meridian on the east.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``affected area'' does not
include the portion of the Red River within the boundary
depicted on the survey prepared by the Bureau of Land
Management entitled ``Township 5 South, Range 14 West, of the
Indian Meridian, Oklahoma, Dependent Resurvey and Survey''
and dated February 28, 2006.
(2) Gradient boundary survey method.--The term ``gradient
boundary survey method'' means the measurement technique used
to locate the South Bank boundary line in accordance with the
methodology established in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340
(1923) (recognizing that the boundary line along the Red
River is subject to change due to erosion and accretion).
(3) Landowner.--The term ``landowner'' means any
individual, group, association, corporation, federally
recognized Indian tribe or member of such an Indian tribe, or
other private or governmental legal entity that owns an
interest in land in the affected area.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of
Land Management.
(5) South bank.--The term ``South Bank'' means the water-
washed and relatively permanent elevation or acclivity
(commonly known as a ``cut bank'') along the southerly or
right side of the Red River that--
(A) separates the bed of that river from the adjacent
upland, whether valley or hill; and
(B) usually serves, as specified in the fifth paragraph of
Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340 (1923)--
(i) to confine the waters within the bed; and
(ii) to preserve the course of the river.
(6) South bank boundary line.--The term ``South Bank
boundary line'' means the boundary, with respect to title and
ownership, between the States of Oklahoma and Texas
identified through the gradient boundary survey method that
does not impact or alter the permanent political boundary
line between the States along the Red River, as outlined
under article II, section B of the Red River Boundary Compact
enacted by the States and consented to by Congress pursuant
to Public Law 106-288 (114 Stat. 919).
SEC. 3. SURVEY OF SOUTH BANK BOUNDARY LINE.
(a) Survey Required.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall commission a survey to
identify the South Bank boundary line in the affected area.
(2) Requirements.--The survey shall--
(A) adhere to the gradient boundary survey method;
(B) span the length of the affected area;
(C) be conducted by 1 or more independent third-party
surveyors that are--
(i) licensed and qualified to conduct official gradient
boundary surveys; and
(ii) selected by the Secretary, in consultation with--
(I) the Texas General Land Office;
(II) the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office, in
consultation with the attorney general of the State of
Oklahoma; and
(III) each affected federally recognized Indian Tribe; and
(D) subject to the availability of appropriations, be
completed not later than 2 years after the date of enactment
of this Act.
(b) Approval of the Boundary Survey.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date on
which the survey or a portion of the survey under subsection
(a)(1) is completed, the Secretary shall submit the survey
for approval to--
(A) the Texas General Land Office;
(B) the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office, in
consultation with the attorney general of the State of
Oklahoma; and
(C) each affected federally recognized Indian Tribe.
(2) Timing of approval.--Not later than 60 days after the
date on which each of the Texas General Land Office, the
Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office, in consultation
with the attorney general of the State of Oklahoma, and each
affected federally recognized Indian Tribe notify the
Secretary of the approval of the boundary survey or a portion
of the survey by the applicable office or federally
recognized Indian Tribe, the Secretary shall determine
whether to approve the survey or portion of the survey,
subject to paragraph (4).
(3) Submission of portions of survey for approval.--As
portions of the survey are completed, the Secretary may
submit the completed portions of the survey for approval
under paragraph (1).
(4) Written approval.--The Secretary shall only approve the
survey, or a portion of the survey, that has the written
approval of each of--
(A) the Texas General Land Office;
(B) the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office, in
consultation with the attorney general of the State of
Oklahoma; and
(C) each affected federally recognized Indian Tribe.
SEC. 4. SURVEY OF INDIVIDUAL PARCELS.
Surveys of individual parcels in the affected area shall be
conducted in accordance with the boundary survey approved
under section 3(b).
SEC. 5. NOTICE AND AVAILABILITY OF SURVEY.
Not later than 60 days after the date on which the boundary
survey is approved under section 3(b), the Secretary shall--
(1) publish notice of the approval of the survey in--
(A) the Federal Register; and
(B) 1 or more local newspapers; and
(2) on request, furnish to any landowner a copy of--
(A) the survey; and
(B) any field notes relating to--
(i) the individual parcel of the landowner; or
(ii) any individual parcel adjacent to the individual
parcel of the landowner.
SEC. 6. EFFECT OF ACT.
Nothing in this Act--
(1) modifies any interest of the State of Oklahoma or
Texas, or the sovereignty, property, or trust rights of any
federally recognized Indian Tribe, relating to land located
north of the South Bank boundary line, as established by the
survey;
(2) modifies any land patented under the Act of December
22, 1928 (45 Stat. 1069, chapter 47; 43 U.S.C. 1068)
(commonly known as the ``Color of Title Act''), before the
date of enactment of this Act;
(3) modifies or supersedes the Red River Boundary Compact
enacted by the States of Oklahoma and Texas and consented to
by Congress pursuant to Public Law 106-288 (114 Stat. 919);
(4) creates or reinstates any Indian reservation or any
portion of such a reservation;
(5) modifies any interest or any property or trust rights
of any individual Indian allottee; or
(6) alters any valid right of the State of Oklahoma or the
Kiowa, Comanche, or Apache Indian tribes to the mineral
interest trust fund established under the Act of June 12,
1926 (44 Stat. 740, chapter 572).
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to
carry out this Act $1,000,000.
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